One Year Later
by Jediempress
Summary: Radiant Garden, one year after the defeat of Organization XIII. A gift for everyone who has supported me on this site since I joined a year ago today.


Today marks the one year anniversary of my time on this lovely little site. Crazy, huh? I've got nearly ninety stories posted now (yes, I really am working on them still). Thank you all so much for supporting me all this time and I really hope you continue to.

This here is my little gift to all of you. Unfortunately, I've been rather sick these past few days so this may not read too well but over all I like the outcome.

::sigh:: In case anyone doubted, I do not own these people.

One Year Later…

"Wow, guys, this is incredible! I can't believe how much you've accomplished in a year." Mickey stated as he walked through the Marketplace with Leon, Riku and Cloud. "How much longer do you think before you'll consider it finished?"

"To Leon it's never going to be finished." Riku snorted. "He'll just keep finding things that need to be done."

Leon shot him a look but said nothing.

Mickey chuckled as he looked up. "Whelp, there's always something to be done."

"Thank you." Leon muttered, giving the mouse king a light smile. "And to answer your question, I'd say we're very nearly finished now. If we can keep at the rate we have been, I'd give it another three months before switching from actual restoration work to simple maintenance."

"This really is amazing. I knew choosing Radiant Garden was the right choice."

Leon actually looked rather embarrassed as he rubbed at his forehead with two fingers. "Yeah, I still don't know what to say about that."

Mickey stopped walking and turned toward Leon, lipless mouth spread in a wide grin. "Why? This world is a perfect example of what all worlds are becoming. Even before the Heartless were defeated, you and the others worked tirelessly to make this world a place everyone could live and feel safe.

"Radiant Garden was ground zero and when the darkness consumed its heart, it became Hollow Bastion. That didn't happen anywhere else. The world's heart survived but barely. When all of you came, you did not hesitate to begin healing the world and restoring it to the place you saw in the computers at the castle.

"As you did this, the heart strengthened, feeding off of your determination and eventual love for what you came to see as your home." Mickey paused, letting Leon process this a moment. "It was you that saved this world, Squall."

Leon just stared rather blankly at the king. "I really didn't…"

"Yes, you did." Riku laced his fingers with Cloud's though his attention was fixed on Leon. "Sora, Mickey and I may have been the one's jumping around from world to world but what you did here is so much more significant."

"You saved Kingdom Hearts twice," the sable-haired man glanced at the others. "If you guys hadn't been out there risking your lives, it wouldn't have made any difference what we did."

"That just reinforces my point. You had no guarantees that anything you did here would matter. You had no idea whether or not Sora could do what was a nearly impossible task for anyone let alone a fifteen-year-old kid. You did it anyway. You set it in your mind that you were going to fix this world and you did it."

Leon shook his head. "We all did it."

"Only because you were there, taking the lead." Cloud countered softly, speaking for the first time since the discussion started. "When we say everyone looks to you as an example, we're completely serious, Squall. Without you, this place would still be Hollow Bastion and its heart would have died."

Both Mickey and Riku nodded agreement.

Leon was practically squirming at this point. Of course, he did not show it. Instead, he fell back on his neutral expression and a soft, "Whatever."

"Hey, guys!" Sora shouted, leaping the ledge of the upper level and landing solidly on the stone below. He ran toward the group and tackled Riku happily.

"Oi, Sora! It's only been a month." Riku managed out as he carefully detached his best friend from his body. He affectionately rubbed at the younger teen's shoulder.

From the steps behind them, Kairi giggled. "Sora's been waiting for this trip ever since we got the message; He nearly glomped Donald and Goofy on the dock."

"Yeah," Goofy laughed as he and Donald followed the girl onto the ground level. "It was funny."

"Well, I haven't seen any of you for a long time!" Sora protested. "I can't believe it's been a whole year since our journey."

"Not calling it an adventure anymore?" Mickey asked softly.

"Well," Sora scratched at his head. "It _was_ an adventure but I get now that it was really serious, too. I mean, we could have died several times and if we had failed, it would have been the end for everyone. So it was like an adventurous journey or a quest or… I dunno."

"For a moment there Sora sounded like an adult," commented Cloud.

"Sora's always gonna be a big kid." Riku cuffed the short brunet beside him. Sora hit right back and the two were soon caught up in a brief fistfight.

"And you're just so much more mature." Sora countered, aiming a hit at Riku's chest. Somehow, Riku grabbed onto his wrist and twisted it around. Sora squealed as the seventeen-year-old got him in a headlock.

Leon rolled his eyes and addressed Cloud. "And you plan to marry one of them?"

Cloud shrugged.

"All right, break it up," Kairi spoke mock-sternly, walking over the other two teenagers. She tugged on Riku's arm and he reluctantly released Sora. "I haven't seen Riku in a longer time."

"Oh, you couldn't wait for me to be gone." Riku wrapped his arms around the petite young woman's shoulders. "Now you don't have any competition with the boys."

"Oh, yeah." Kairi returned the embrace. "They just come flocking to me now."

Riku chuckled, letting her go. He moved back to Cloud's side, sliding his arm behind the man's waist. "All right, now that everyone's here, what's the schedule?"

The group turned to Mickey expectantly. The mouse just blinked at them. "Why are you all looking at me?"

"Uh, because you're the guy in charge?" Sora asked with sarcasm.

"Whelp," Mickey scrunched his face. "I don't really have one. I just thought it would be nice for all of us to get together."

"Works for me." Riku shrugged. Goofy and Cloud also nodded. Leon lifted an eyebrow but seemed content with the plan, or lack of. Donald shook his head in something close to exasperation and Sora and Kairi just laughed.

"Aerith's got a big dinner planned." Leon informed them. "She's expecting everyone there and she already got Sephiroth to help."

Riku quirked a silver eyebrow at that but smiled. "Should have seen that."

"How's Seph doing?" Mickey asked with a touch of concern.

"Seph?" Cloud's face twisted and even Riku looked confused by the king's casual address of his brother.

Mickey chuckled. "He didn't tell ya, huh? That doesn't surprise me. Sephiroth and I are good friends, well, as much friends as Seph gets. I met him before you did, Riku. I was the one who encouraged him to introduce himself."

Sora and Donald stared. The brunet let his jaw drop. "So you knew all that time he was on our side?"

"He wasn't on our side exactly," countered Mickey. "He was on _Riku's_ side."

Goofy angled his head. "Oh! So that's why he left us alone."

Sora turned toward him. "Left us alone?"

"Yeah," long ears moved as he nodded. "After that one time we talked to him, you went out of our way to find him."

"Wait-" Sora cut himself off. "Yeah, we did, didn't we? Huh, that's weird. And why did we go tell Cloud he was there? That's kinda like sending someone to their doom."

"You knew I was looking for him." Cloud shrugged. "You found him so you told me. That's it."

"That was a confrontation that needed to happen." Mickey stated. "The whole thing was set up."

The blond turned to him. "Really."

To everyone's surprise, it was Riku who spoke next. "He wanted that to be the last time. He wanted the conflict between you to end just as much as you did."

Cloud pursed his lips. "I was just too angry to see that."

"And he knew that."

"Yep." Mickey agreed. "Seph's an amazing guy. I'm really glad he's getting' his life back."

Leon's phone rang, interrupting the conversation. He stepped off to the side to answer and after a few minutes, returned. "I've got to met Cid over at the works."

"Anything wrong?" Riku asked.

"Nothing that can't be handled in under ten minutes." He motioned toward Sora. "Feel up to distracting Yuffie for a bit?"

"Sure!" Sora brightened. "Come on, Kai!"

"We'll come too!" Goofy followed after Leon, Sora and Kairi with Donald in tow.

As they left, Riku shook his head. "Some things never change, do they?"

"Nope." Mickey laughed. "And thank goodness they don't."

"Yeah," Riku glanced over at Cloud, taking the man's hand. "But some change is good."

"Definitely."

This time Cloud's phone chimed and he sighed. "I knew I was going to get dragged into doing something."

Riku grinned. "Tifa?"

Nodding, the blond answered. After a brief conversation, he visibly repressed another sigh and told Tifa he would be over there in a minute. When he hung up, he explained. "Tifa needs me to help her bring some things over to Aerith's."

"Want help?"

"No," Cloud smiled softly. He gave Riku a light kiss before moving away. As he did, he nodded toward Mickey. "Catch up with your friend."

He waved them both goodbye and left. This left Riku and Mickey alone, outside of the few scattered people in the Marketplace. The two looked to one another and the mouse chuckled. "Left alone again."

"That happens to us a lot." The silvered teen smirked good-naturedly. "At least now I know it's not permanent."

Mickey angled his head, large ears twitching a touch. He seemed to be considering Riku very carefully. After a moment, Riku looked at him curiously and the demure king smiled easily. "I'm really glad to see you so happy, Riku. I worried about you."

Riku bit his lip. "I worried about me, too. I look back at where I was a year ago and I can't believe how far I've all come. All of us actually and there's still further to go."

"Yep." Mickey bobbed his head.

They fell into a comfortable silence. The two were still close and understood one another very well. Neither one figured that would be changing any time soon.

Riku suddenly grinned. "What do you say we go to the house and bake something for dessert tonight?"

"Sound's like fun." Mickey commented. "I haven't gotten to do normal stuff in a while. It gets so boring sometimes being king."

Riku laughed at that. "Well, so far as I'm concerned you're just plain ol' Mickey."

"And that's exactly how I want it to be with my friends."

…And with that said, the pair walked out of the Marketplace.


End file.
